Firearm.



No. 811,807. PATBNTBD PEB. 6, 1906.

J. H. WESSON. FRBARM.

ArrLwA'xrxoN FILED JULY 11,1905.

/lg Vy O UNITED sTArss PArENT ovinos.

FIREARM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 6, 1906.

Application fiie July 11,1905. Serial No. 269,214.

To all whom it may concern.-

. Be it known that I, JOSEPH H. WnssoN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Firearms, of which the following is a speeiiication.

This invention relates to firearms, the object thereof being to provide an improved construction of so-called rebounding mechanism, but in this case more properly termed a retracting device for the hammer]y inasmuch as a positively-moved device is interp'osed at the proper' time between the hammer and the frame to retractV the nose ofthe hammer from the position it occupies at the moment of firing, and which serves as a posi- `Itive block for the hammer to prevent the latter from being accidentally brought in contact with the primer of a cartridge in the cylinder by some accidental blow.

A further object of the invention is to provide a retracting device for the hammer, so arranged that the movement of the hammer independently of the trigger, as in the cocking of the hammer by the thumb, will not render the retracting device ineffective to block the fall of the hammer should it be released durin the manual cooking operation.

A still fort er object of the invention is to provide a construction in which the s ring which moves the hammer shall serve a so tot' hold the hand in operative relation to the cylinder.

Having these ends in view, the invention consists m mounting a sliding wedge-like member in the frame which is connected by suitable means with the trigger, whereby when the trigger is released after the fall of the hammer a suitable spring associated with this sliding member operates to swing the trigger forward to normal position and simultaneously to retract the hammer b pushin said wedge-like member under the lower en thereof forwardly of its pivotal point, which operates to retract the upper end of the hammer and to hold it in retracted position.

The invention is fully illustrated in the drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation'of a revolver with certain parts broken awayto show the a plication o the invention in its relation to t e hammer and trigger, the hammer being in its retracted ositlon'. Fig. 2 is a similar view to Fig. 1, s owing the parts in a different position, the hammer being raised as in the act of firing. Fig. 3 is a view similar to the others, but showing the hammer down as at the moment of iiring and before ressure on the trigger has been released, w 1ereby the actuation of the retracting device is rendered possible. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the trigger-retraeting device and hand, showing a construction whereby the spring which actuates the retracting device and trigger may also serve to actuate the hand. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of thc retracting device, showing a slight modiiication in the mode of connecting thc latter to the trigger.

For the sake of convenience the active member of the retracting device will hereinafter be referred to as a Wedge-block.

In the various drawings like letters of reference refer to like parts in the various fignres, and a, indicates the frame of the arm, in which the hammer b is pivotally supported, as at c, in the usual manner in arms of this class. The mainspring for the hammer is indicated by d, and e is the trigger, pivotally Vsupported in the frame at The arm shown herein is of the self-coc ing type, and the *hammer is provided, therefore, with the usual cooking-lever g.

Y Beneath the hammer and between it and the frame the latter is leveled eff, as at h, to receive the sliding wedge-block j. The rear `=end of this member is chambered out to receive a coiled spring m, which bears against the bottom of the chamber thus provided and a ainst a pin o in the frame. Preferably the ,c ambered-ont end of the Wedge-block is slotted transversely, as at p, in which slot the pin o is located, whereby during the sliding movement of the block in one direction this pin will serve to hold the latter in position. This is a detail of construction, however, and any means may be employed to prevent the displacement of the sliding wedge-block and any other arrangement of spring may be substituted for that shown.

The forward end of the wedge-block y' is rounded oli, as at g, and the lower end of the hammer, which extends forwardl of the pivotal point thereof, is provided Wit a slightlyrounded projection r to bear on the rounded end of the wedge-block, whereby the movement of the latter a ainst the lower end of the hammer will be re ieved from more or less friction. Alever s is located between the trigger and the forward end of the wedge-bloc the latter being provided with a slight depres- IIO sion s to receive the end of said lever s, the opposite end of which extends into a vertically-disposed slot in the trigger, the lower border of which is indicated by.t, Fig. 4, and in this slot an elbow-lever t is pivoted at i) to the trigger, the short downturned arm of said lever being pivotally connected to the lever c and the long arm extending back to and bearing on a pin e', olfset from the pivot-pin 'u2 of the hand c3. Of course the lever t may be omitted if it is desired to use a separate spring for the hand in the usual manner, and. in that case the lever s would be pivotcd directly to the trigger. While it is preferred that the rear end of the lever s should only bear against the end of the wedge-block j, as shown in the drawings, because of the facility with which the parts may be dismounted, it may be, if desired, pivotally secured to the forward end of the wedgeblock, as shown in Fig. 5.

The spring m in the wed ge-block is the trigger-spring, and whenever the trigger is pulled to cock the hammer this spring is compressed against the pin o, and because of the lever connection between the trigger and the wedge-block the latter moves With the trigger, and therefore, as distinctly shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the retraction of the tri ger moves the rounded end q of the wedge-bIock to the rear, taking it out of the way of the hammer when the latter falls; but as soon as pressure on the trigger is relieved the spring fm` will swing the trigger forward, pushing the wedge-block j at the same time under the hammer and against the projection r on the latter, thus swin in the lower forwardly-ex tending end of tie ammer upward and retracting the nose of the hammer from a position of Contact with the primer of a cartridge. As lon r as the wedge-block occupies the position re ative to the hammer shown in Fig. 1 the nose thereof cannot be forced into contact with the primer of a cartridge in the cylinder.

Whether the hammer is cocked by the operation of the trig er or Whether it is cocked manually by the t umb is immaterial so far as the result of this operation concerns the actuation of the wedge-block, for in either case the release of the trigger after firin will effect the retraction of the nose of the ammer in the manner described; but there is another element of safety in the use of the wedge-block as herein constructed which rei sults from the fact that its movements are entirely independent of the movements of the hammer, and therefore when it is in operative retracting position-that is to say, in the position shown in Fig. l-the hammer may be raised by the thumb more or less and let fall again without exploding the cartridge, for the reason that unless by a pull on the trigger the spring m is held against reaction 1t will always operate to locate the Wedge-block in a position to intercept the fall of the hammer and prevent the nose of the latter from striking the cartridge.

It has been stated in the foregoing naragraph that the movement of the wedge-block is inde iendent of the hammer; but by that it should be understood that it is always free to move into a blocking position relative to the hammer entirely independently of the latter. As a matter of fact, the hammer when it is cocked by hand will cause the wedge-block to be moved to the rear because of the engagement of the lower end of the hammer with the lip w on the upper rear end of the trig rer, and thus swing the latter on its pivot; but if the hammer is released at any time before this lip engages the full-cock notch in the hammer the s )ring m will move the wedge-block forwardly in time to block the fall of the hammer. Thus it is seen that this wedge-block j in the construction herein described serves not only to retract the hammer under all conditions of operation, but serves also as a safety device under certain conditions hereinbefore described.

The wedge-block not onlyserves as a safety device when the hammer is cocked by the thumb, but if for any reason the hammer should be partially cocked by a pull on the trigger and then released by the finger sli ping off of the trigger the operation would e the same, and the Wedge-block would move into blocking position in the same manner as described when the thumb slips off of the hammer.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a firearm, a hammer, a trigger, and a retracting device for the hammer consisting of a slidable wedge-block located between the under side of the hammer and the frame, a positive connection consisting ol a link ex tendine between said block and the trigger, a spring lhaving a bearing on said block and on a suitable abutment on the frame, to actuate both the block and the trigger.

2. In a revolver, a hammer and a retracting device therefor, and a hand to rotate the c inder, a trigger, and an elbow-lever pivota ly mounted on the latter; one arm of which bears on the hand one side of the pivotal point of the latter, and a link connected to the other arm of the elbow-lever and extending to said retracting device, together with a spring to actuate the latter and the trigger and to hold the hand in operative relation to the c linder of the revolver.

3. Ih a revolver, a trigger and a hand thereon to rotate the cylinder, and an elbow-lever ivoted on the trigger one arm of which ears on the hand one side of the pivotal point of the latter, a link pivotally connected to the other arm of the elbow-lever, and a spring to apply endwise pressure to said link to 'move the trigger in one direction and through said elbow-lever to hold the hand in operative relation to the cylinder of the revolver,

4. In a firearm, a hammer, a trigger, and a retracting device for the hammer, said device having a bearing on and being positivelj,T actuated by the trigger but not attached thereto, and a spring to move the retraeting device and trig er to retract the hammer after the trigger ias been actuated to eflect the discharge of the arm.

5. In a iirearm, a hammer, a trigger, and a retracting device for the hammer consisting of a slidable Wed e-block located between the under Side of tlgie hammer and the Jframe,

a connection consisting of a link extending between said block and the trigger, and a spring bearing on the block to move the latter and said trigger to normal position after the trigger has been actuated to fire the arm.

6. In a firearm, a hammer2 a trigger, and a retracting device for the hammer consisting of a slidable wed lre-bloek located between the under side of t 1e hammer and the frame, a positive connection consisting of a link eX- tending between said block and the trigger, the rear end of said biock being provided with a chamber, a spring in said chamber having a suitable abutment on the frame and serving to aetuate both the block and the trigger.

7. in a irearm, a hammer, a trigger, and a retracting device for the hammer connected with the trigger and movable by the latter to inoperative position, said device constituting also a safety device, and a sprin bearing on said retractinor device and on tie frame to normallyT hold the device in a position to block the fall of the hammer.

JOSEPH H. VVESSON.

Witnesses:

WM. H. CHAPIN, K. .GLEMoNs 

